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Definition:
the apparent shift or movement of a nearby object against a distant background, when viewed from two different positions
Examples of parallax
Thumb
in front of the eyes Speedometer (not digital) viewed by the driver vs. the passenger An object in the room when viewed from the RHS of the room vs. the LHS A flagpole when viewed from opposite ends of a sidewalk
Vocabulary of parallax
Baseline Parallax Distance Small
Geometry of parallax
1 C E < p2 F D 2 d2 A < p1 Baseline d1 B Distant Background
Conclusions
Nearby
objects have a greater parallax shift and a larger parallax angle than more distant objects. Conversely: If an object A has a larger parallax shift than an object B, using the same baseline, then A is closer than B. Extension: A longer baseline will produce a larger parallax shift for the same object.
But.in astronomy:
The distances to most objects of interest are extremely large. Earth-based baselines make angles at A and B nearly 90 degrees! These angles are nearly impossible to measure accurately.
.a very long, thin isosceles triangle. The issue becomes one of measuring: VERY TINY ANGLES!!
A d
Outdoor Parallax
C Pole p B Distant Background p d Baseline (b) A
p = parallax angle
Basic Geometry
A
p B d
The small angle formula gives us: p = (AB/d) x 57.3 OR (with a little algebra manipulation):
Outdoor approximation
Its
impossible to measure p directly. However, if the distance to the background is >>> d, then angle p is approximately equal to p. can measure p just as we have measured angular size.by sighting on points C and D with a ruler and a meter stick.
We
Eye y
Hold ruler in front of your eye. Match up x with A and B. Measure x. Partner measures y.
Example
Measure Measure
AB = 8.4 meters
angle p (angular size of CD) using ruler and meter stick. x = 5 cm, y = 60 cm. p = x/y * 57.3 degrees = 4.8 deg. d = 8.4/4.8 * 57.3 = 100 meters.
Calculate Calculate
d = (AB/p) x 206,265
works for ALL applications of astronomical parallax, where p is the parallax angle in arcsecs. d will have the same units as AB.
Example
Suppose the Yerkes telescope in Wisconsin and the Leuschner telescope near San Francisco take an image of the same asteroid, at the same time. They measure a parallax angle of 4 arcsecs (4). The baseline, AB, is the distance between the two scopes = 3200 km. d = (3200/4) x 206265 km = 165 million km. (For reference: the Earth-Sun distance is about 150 million km.)
The 2 AU baseline
Earth-Dec 1 AU p p Sun 1 AU
Earth-June
The Parsec
Definition: the distance that results when an object has a parallax angle of 1 arcsec with a baseline of 1 AU. The word, parsec, comes from a combination of parallax and arcsecond. So, 1 parsec (pc) = 3.1 E16 meters = 31
trillion km.
A simple formula
When astronomers observe the parallax of stars using the 2 AU baseline, then the parallax formula becomes:
d = 1/p
And d is always in units of parsecs. Examples: p = 4 arcsecs, d = 0.25 pc. p = 0.2 arcsecs, d = 5 pc.
Hipparcos satellite can measure parallax angles to around 1 milliarcsec = 0.001 Maximum distance = 1/0.001 = 1000 pc or about 3300 ly (light years)
How to measure p?
In astronomy we measure the parallax shift directly from two images taken by two different telescopes. See example of asteroid Austria using Hands-On Universe-Image Processing
Digital Images
Each Each
space
Given
Example
Plate Scale = 0.8/px.
Distance calculation
Use the parallax formula: d = (AB/p) x 206,265 For p = 16 and AB = 6,000 km. (e.g.) d = (6,000/16) x 206,265 = 7.7 E7 km = .77 AU